Ellis Anderson, an elementary education major at UMSL, rides along a section of the new St. Vincent-Cross Campus Trail behind the north and south MSC garages on campus. The trail connects the existing St. Vincent Greenway Trail with the Ted Jones Trail. (Photo by August Jennewein)
A few bicyclists have been zipping along the new trail and through the underpass on the University of Missouri–St. Louis campus. Officially, the new St. Vincent-Cross Campus Trail will open Sept 20 with a party, rides on the new trail and a chance to win a new bike.
The campus community is invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2 p.m. at the Wayne Goode statue in front of the Millennium Student Center. UMSL students can register to win a bicycle from Coca-Cola and Kona Ice will give away free shaved ice and ice cream treats. Thanks to Gateway Golf Carts, Ferguson Bicycle Shop and Live Well Ferguson, golf carts and bicycles will be available to ride along the trail.
The new trail connects the existing cross-campus St. Vincent Greenway Trail with the Ted Jones Trail. Construction of the new trail began April 30 and includes an underpass running east under Arnold B. Grobman Drive and continuing east behind the north and south Millennium Student Center garages. Great Rivers Greenway funded the $1.3 million project. With completion of construction, UMSL will operate and maintain the trail.
Ellis Anderson, an elementary education major, rides a Metro bus to UMSL from his home in University City, Mo., then uses his bike to get around the 350-acre campus. Metro has a Bike and Ride program that provides bike racks on its buses and space for bikes on MetroLink trains.
“I have a car but the bicycle is a lot more economical and more convenient than the shuttle buses,” he said. “And the weather’s been great the last two weeks.”
Anderson, new to the campus this fall, said he moves back and forth between north and south campus with ease.
UMSL Police Chief Forrest Van Ness said safety questions were addressed in planning the trail. New lighting has been installed and blue emergency phones with direct access to the campus police office have been installed in the underpass and access from the MSC Garage South. In addition, the underpass allows wheelchair capability directly from the lower level of that garage to the trail in front of the MSC. All students can now avoid crossing Grobman Drive between the garage and the MSC.
Great Rivers Greenway is a public organization established in November 2000 with the passage of the Clean Water, Safe Parks and Community Initiative in St. Louis City, St. Louis County and St. Charles County. The organization is developing an interconnected system of trails in greenways to make the region a better place to live.
